Rail-clamp.



H. McDERMID.

BAIL CLAMP.

APPUCATION men mm. 30. ms.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

. ful Improvements in noon aluminum, or cmoaeo, rumors.

BAIL-CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

Application filed March 80, 1918. Serial No. 225,708.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH MCDERMID. a citizen of the United States, residing at Chioa o, in the county of Cook and State of Illmois, have invented certain new and use- Rail-Clamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention re ates to a rail clamp adapted to be applied to a rail of a railway track and against one of the wheels of a car so as to prevent movement'of the. car along the track.

This invention is particularly useful for retaining steam shovels, locomotive cranes, and similar wheel-supported apparatus in position on a track without permitting to 'Figure movement of the same. A

The object of my invention is the provision of a simple and inexpensive clamp of this kind which will serve as a stop and which can be easily applied to a rail at any point thereof and as readily removed thererom.

A further object is the provision of a rail clamp of this type having1 means to positively and firmly engage t e upper face of the rail and which is so constructed that the greater the pressure of a car bearing thereagainst, the greater will be the gripping and binding efl'ect of the clamp against the rail.

A further obj set of my invention is to provide a clamp having a pair of clamping aws movable within a casing or housing provided therefor and held a amst detachment from said housing while oosely retained therein so that the aws can be easily passed down along opposite sides of the rail by the mere positioning of the device onto the rail.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of this character, which is simple in construction, which consists of few parts so arranged that they may be formed comparatively light yet be rigid and durable during the operation of steam shovels or other wheeled ap aratus retained thereby.

With these an other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts'to be hereinafter de scribed and particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

Jn the drawings,

1 is a. side elevation of my 1mroved clampapplied to a portion of-a rail,

'A is flared downwardly,

to resist the pressure exerted thereagainst the with a portion of a car wheel shown in contact therewith.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1.

3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 33, Fig. 1, the wheel being omitted.

Fig. 4 is a vertical lon 'tudinal section taken on line 44, Fig. 3, t e gripping dog being however, shown in elevation.

Re erence being had to the drawings in detail, A designates the body portion of the device In the form of a frame or casing open at its lower end, as at B. Said frame or casing has downwardly flaring side walls C, opposite end walls D, and a top,wall E from which latter dprojects a erforated lu e. A suitable han e or bail is rovided which is pivotally secured to the l dg e by means of a bolt Extendin rearwardly from the frame or casing is a ollow extension G which opens downwardly and in which a gripping dog H is positioned. This do receives bearin from the sides of the hol ow extension an from the adjacent end wall D, and it is provided with a tapered lower end h, preferably sharpened to a knife edge, as at I. .This edge I is adapted to bear against the upper face of the rail J and serves to prevent movement of the clamp lengthwise along the rail when pressure is exerted thereagainst. The dog is retained in position within the hollow extension by means of a set screw K passed through the end wall of said extension and bearin against the outer edge of the dog, which is notched, as at k, to receive the end of said screw. The extension G may be said to have a downwardly opening pocket 9 in which the dog H is rigidly secured.

It is to be noted that the frame or casing and in the chamber thereof, two clamping 'aws L tained, the lower ends of said jaws extending down beneath the lower edge of said frame or casing, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. These jaws have hook-she ed ends 1, w ich are adapted to engage un erneath the head of the rail. The upper ends of these jaws are provided with transverse slots M which are alined with each other. Through these slots and slots 0 formed in the opposite side walls 0 of the frame or casing, a wedge bar N is passed, this wedge bar senving to draw 'aws Liipwardly and hoo shaped ends thereof against the underinwardly with the tion 0 on its inner side of the head of the rail while forcing the frame or casing A downwardly. The downward movement of the frame or casin is, of

' dog H, whic upper side of the rail. ach of the clamping jaws L has a rojecface and each projection has an abrupt lower face or shoulder 0.

The end walls D of the frame or casing have alined openings P therein, in which a retainer bar Q is fitted, the front end of said retainer bar extending beyond the outer face of the front end wall D and throu h the rejecting portion thereof and a ug R formed on said wall, a pin r is pamed to retain said retainer bar in position.

lVhen the device is not in use the wedge bar N is withdrawn from the slots M and a and the clamping jaws are in a lowered position with the abrupt faces 0 of the pro jections O thereon engaging the retainer By this means the clamping jaws are prevented from dropping out of the frame or casing and arealways retained in a position in which they can freely be applied to the rail, and by reason of the side walls C of the frame or casing being flared, the lower ends'of these clamping jaws automatically separate as they lower so that the space between the hooked ends is greater than the width of the head of the rail to which they are to be applied.

It is to be noted that the bail or handle F is attached directly to the frame or casing, and in lifting the device the positions of the clamping jaws are not changed thereby. These clamping jaws may be said to be in suspended or hanging position when the wedge bar N is removed, and when placing the device onto a rail the clamping jaws pass downwardly on opposite sides of the rail. The fram or easing A is lowered until the pointed end of the dog H engages the upper edge of the rail. When the parts are thus positioned the clamping jaws may be moved upwardly to bring the slots M therein so that they almost register with the slots C in the frame or casing. The wedge bar N is then inserted through these slots and by driving the same inwardly by means of a hammer or other object, the clamping jaws ar drawn u wardly to bring the hooked ends thereof into clamping contact with the lower side of the head of the rail and at the same time force the casing downwardly to cause the dog H to take a secure bite into the upper face of the rail.

It is to be noted that the front end of the device is placed against the tread of the wheel. or in other words, that end opposite the dog H, and in exerting pressure rearwardly against the device, it tends to tilt the device with the pointed end of the dog acting as its fulcrum, thus causing the clainpi g jaws to more securely clamp bar against the head of the rail and the dog to exert pressure in a downward direction to a greater degree. It is apparent, therefore, that with increased pressure applied to the front end of the dev ce, the clamp will auto matically increase its gripping and clamping tendencies and thus prevent movement of the car along the track under all conditions of use.

Having thus described my claim is,-

1. A rail clamp comprising a body portion, a handle pivotally secured to the upper end of said body portion, a pair of clamping jaws carried by said body portion and having their upper ends normally retained therein independent of said handle, and means for drawing said clamping jaws upwardly and inwardly to tighten the same against a rail.

2. A rail clamp comprising a body portion having a pair of alined slots, a handle secured to the upper end of said body portion, a pair of clamping jaws having their upper ends normally within said body portion and being provided with alined slots, and a wedge bar adapted to be forced through the slots of said body portion and the slots of said clamping jaws to clamp said jaws against a rail.

3. A rail clamp comprising a casing having opposite side walls flared downwardly, a pair of clamping jaws arranged within said casing and having their lower ends projecting beneath the lower edge of said casing, said clamping jaws having projections on their opposing faces, retaining invention, what means within said casing adapted to be enand disengage said projections from said re- 7 taming means.

4. A rail clamp comprising a casing having opposite side walls flared downwardly, a pair of clam ing jaws said casing an having their lower ends projectin beneath the lower edge of the same, sai clamping jaws having projections on their opposing faces, a retainer bar detachably arranged within said casing adaptprojections of said clamping jaws to prevent removal of said jaws from said casing, and means for drawing said clamping jaws upwardly and inwardly to clamp the same against the head of a rail and disengage said projections from said retainer bar.

5. A rail clamp comprising a casing having opposite side walls flared downwardly and provided with alined slots, :1 pair of clamping jaws arranged Within said casing and having hook-shaped lower ends projecting beneath the lower edge of said casing, said clamping jaws having projections on their opposing faces, a retainer bar arranged lengthwise Within said casing and being removable therefrom, and a wedge bar engaging said clamping jaws andpassing throu h the slots of said casing to draw said 0 amping jaws upwardly and inwardly and to disengage said projections from said retainer bar.

6. A rail clamp comprising a casing having clamping jaws adapted to engage the head of a rail and having a dog secured to one end adapted to bear against the upper surface of the head of said rail.

7. A rail clamp comprising a' casing provided with a pair of clamping jaws adapted to engage the head of a rail, and a removable dog at the rear end of said casin adapted to engage the upper face of M15 rail.

8. A rail clamp comprising a casing having a air of clamping jaws adapted to engage t e head of a rail and having a ho]- low projection at its rear end opening downwardly, a dog fitted within said projection and adapted to engage the top of said rail, and means for removably holding said dog in osition.

n testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HUGH McDERMID. 

